Community Support a Major Part of Graham County Electric Cooperative’s Mission

As an employee of Graham County Electric Cooperative, Jason Carter’s weekdays revolve around the work he does in the meter and water departments.

But when the opportunity arises Jason, like many of GCEC’s employees, likes to support community events and organizations that raise money and awareness for the surrounding communities and their residents.

That’s why he recently manned a table at the annual SalsaFest events and specifically, the Chihuahua Races that are organized by the Safford Lion’s Club, promoting GCEC and its programs and handing out hats and other gifts to race attendees.

The Lion’s Club uses the proceeds raised by GCEC’s sponsorship of the event, as well as donations raised during the races, to provide one-year full scholarships for local students to attend Eastern Arizona College.

“It’s good for the community to have sponsorships to raise money for things like scholarships, especially for those who might not be able to afford it otherwise, it’s a good thing to be able to help out the youth,” said Carter.

“I feel good about working for a company that cares about the Members and really cares about the rest of the community as well,” Carter added.

Edmund Lopez, 1st vice-president for the Safford Lion’s Club, said GCEC’s annual sponsorship “makes a huge difference.

“GCEC’s sponsorship is so important, if we didn’t have that I don’t think we could do any of this, so we truly appreciate the co-op’s sponsorship.

“So far we’re giving out four full scholarships that pay all the student’s fees for a full year, which amounts to about $3,000 per student per year and it’s the co-op’s sponsorship that helps make that possible,” said Lopez.

The Safford Lion’s Club also raises money to support local families of children with cancer – by providing gas cards.

“We provide gas cards for people who have to travel to Tucson or Phoenix for pediatric cancer doctors, and we’ve actually expanded the program to help all cancer patients in our area who have to travel for treatment,” Lopez said.

Phil Cook, GCEC CEO, said the co-op supports community engagement not just for the money that’s raised to support good causes, but also to provide Members and other area residents the chance to meet co-op employees and learn more about what the co-op does.

“We try to do what we can so that we interact with our Members where they are; we might not see them other than when they might come in to pay their bill, and this way we make sure to remind people that we’re Member-owned, and we exist because of, and for, the Members,” Cook said.

Cook said it’s important to remember the co-op is a not-for-profit, Member-owned electric utility – that does a lot more than provide electricity and water.

However, being a not-for-profit means that “we have limited resources, we’re not a big investor-owned utility with lots of money to spend, so we use it wisely for events like this that give back to our local communities,” Cook said.

Of course, it’s just a lot of fun to do these events, just ask the owners of this year’s champion Chihuahua.

“This is just really fun, to watch Lee Loo run and have a good time,” said Adi Scott, Lee Loo’s owner. Lee Loo is this year’s reigning champion chihuahua. Lee Loo has now won the event three years in a row.

Matthew Scott, the other half of the Lee Loo family, echoed his wife’s enthusiasm..

“And, having the co-op, Graham County Electric Cooperative, which contributes openly to our communities is very important, and we should all know about the good work they do,” said Scott.